The Queen has spoken: the most important thing is to feed the poor and hungry so forget about the orgiastic organicheads, the foodmile fanatics, animal activists, crusaders and the elitests like "I'm ethical, you're not" Michael Pollan who promotes plants.

Delia Smith aka the legenday British cookbook writer and TV personality who has made it into the Oxford English Dictionary - "Do a Delia" - is speaking out as she launches her new cookbook, How to Cheat At Food.

Like the late Julia Child, Delia has down to earth priorities...

The queen of TV cookery said that access to cheap chicken is crucial for poor families and pensioners.

"I certainly don't like the way battery chickens are reared but, on the other hand, I'm aware we still have a lot of poverty, particularly among children and I feel that's a disgrace," she told Radio 4 yesterday.

"We have got to make sure everybody gets enough nutritious food to eat in the first place."

"I will stick to cooking," said Delia.

"I'll stick to teaching people to cook. I can't get into the politics of food."

She said that the taste of food mattered more than whether its ingredients were organic or environmentally friendly.

"If I go into a shop and I want to buy some beautiful fresh beetroot I will go for whatever looks best," she added.

"If it is organic I will buy it; if it isn't I will buy that."

She added that she is sceptical about the concept of "food miles" - the yardstick used by environmentalists to measure how much damage is caused by long-distance transport.

"I love fresh shelled peas in the winter from Kenya," she said.

"I'm sorry about the planet but I'm conscious there are people in Kenya getting employment and money to bring up their children."